Saturday, December 29, 2007

If your kids are like mine, they love to bring ANY TOY you'll allow into the tub or shower. With all of the recent news on lead (and other potentially harmful chemicals), I stopped letting them bring "plastic" toys in the tub. Then I happened upon some really cute, SAFE toys designed just for bath use!

They come in three different sets - I bought all three (hippo, frog, duck, ladybug, octopus, whale, turtle, bee & butterfly)! :) My little ones absolutely adore these! Even my FIVE year old! And they're so easy to clean - every time you wash your towels, you wash these too because they're made out of terry cloth.

We also own this company's Tooth Fairy pillows that my girls love. It's a super soft, squishy pillow (about the size of an adult's hand) with a small pocket sewn onto the top for the child to store their tooth. :)

Saturday, December 15, 2007

My good friend over at ChewyMamas Unite just recently blogged about lead in artificial Christmas trees. To be completely honest, I hadn't even give it much thought at all until she mentioned it. *sigh* Apparently many artificial Christmas trees have lead in the PVC used to create the foilage as well as lead in the wires for the lights. Here's why:

Lead is a flame retardant

Lead makes the plastic around the wires (lights, power cords, extension cords) flexible

Lead helps the plastic retain its color better

Unfortunately lead is toxic and can cause severe mental retardation. With all of the recent news on lead in kids toys, it's really brought to light the toxicity issue in general. People are paying a lot more attention to where their toys come from. Sadly everyone is mostly focused on just lead, because there are a lot more chemicals to be nervous about. But at least it's a start!

We have an artificial Christmas tree. I thought it was the better choice several years ago - not cutting down a real tree. We tried a living potted tree about 7 years ago and that was a pain. We potted it in our back yard, but what a mess... It was SO heavy and there was mud everywhere. Cut trees are beautiful, but why aren't there any bugs on them? Why are they so perfect? Because they're heavily sprayed with pesticides and fungacides. So what's the best solution? I don't really know.

There is one "lead-free" artificial tree making company that resides here in the US called USChristmasTree.com. They absolutely guarantee their tree won't contain lead. Unfortunately, there isn't a solution for the lights. I emailed the company and their lights to contain lead. They do not sell pre-lit trees because people want to avoid the lead lights, but they package them separately so people can choose to use them or not.

Another company called Living Christmas Tree has come up with a fantastic idea - renting living, potted Christmas trees. This is definitely an option I'd choose and it's not any more expensive than buying a cut tree each year. Unfortunately I don't know of a company doing this closer to my home. This company is in Oregon and does offer shipping to other states, but it is significantly more expensive.

Now the real quest? Find lead-free Christmas lights. If anyone has any leads on this, please share. :)